Tolley Pulls Off Squeaker Win To Be Moose Jaw's Next Mayor

By Robert Thomas

“I think she would be very proud of me,” mayor elect Clive Tolley said in response to a question about his later mother the former Moose Jaw alderman Marion Tolley.

“She supported my campaign when I was running for alderman and she gave me a financial contribution. And of course she got all of the ladies she knew out to vote for me. She was a social democrat community activist to the enth degree and I am proud to follow in her footsteps,” mayor elect Tolley said in questions from MJ Independent during the media scrum following the final results of the byelection for the vacant mayor’s chair.

Marion was elected to a three year term in 1979 where she was well known for working tirelessly to save Moose Jaw’s heritage amongst other things.

Clive himself served as an alderman from 1988 - 1991. He said during that time he saw himself running to be mayor one day.

Mayor elect Clive Tolley speaks at the presser following the vote tally - MJ Independent photo

Tolley had just pulled off a narrow win with 1290 votes or 21.50 percent of the vote against second place finisher Councillor Crystal Froese with 1249 votes or 20.82 percent of the vote and third place finisher business owner Sam Morrison with 1227 votes or 20.45 percent of the vote.

Tolley who did not watch the results being tallied at City Hall said he was “anxious as I watched the results come in.”

“There was anyone of five people who could have won this election. Poll by poll I feel very fortunate to have won. There are some good people who ran in this contest against me and I feel very fortunate and beaten them and being elected Mayor of Moose Jaw.”

“It is something that I wanted to do. I love my city. I am passionate about it. I am very humbled and thankful, there was good candidates and I was the one that ended up coming on top,” he said.

Tolley said it was bittersweet beating his friend Sam Morrison who until his retirement was also the mayor elect’s mechanic. He said he was hopeful Morrison would be available to put some of his skills to work on various City committees to help out.

Being a professional mediator Tolley said was something which could in handy as he was a “problem solver” as both a mediator and an arbitrator and there were lots of problems which needed to be solved at the City of Moose Jaw.

“I am going to bring my professional skills to bear on the issues that face the City of Moose Jaw…lots of times we want to listen to the people of Moose Jaw and listen to their decision and other times it will be tough decisions to make.”

The final results are displayed at City Hall - MJ Independent photo

Although his politics may not align with that of his late mother’s the mayor elect said that the sometimes heated political discussions around the kitchen table were beneficial to him.

“She (his mother Marion Tolley) led by example. She believed certain things and lived that way. And I believe certain things and I am going to have to live that way as well,” he said.

Asked further by MJ Independent about his days on Council as an alderman and how the Council of that day had been portrayed by one alderman as ‘like entering the viper pit every Monday evening’ Tolley said he would work hard to prevent it.

“My observations of the Council now is they are a strong group working together and I am coming in as a leader and I am going to have to get to know councillors on a personal basis, form a relationship with them and see where there heads are on certain issues,” Tolley said.

“As you know the mayor is just one vote of seven but the mayor has some influence in terms of leading. The first thing I need to do is to listen to the other councillors and find out you know what their issues are. What is important to them and try to conform some consensus what direction we should be going and then lead in that direction.”

Asked by Jason G Antonio of The Moose Jaw Express/Moose Jaw Today when he would be moving into the Mayor’s office Tolley said he would have to make arrangements with the City Manager.

“I don’t know I am going to have to speak to City Manager Jim Puffalt and see when that should happen. I think that is unique and when it is a byelection typically in a regular election there is a schedule attached to that in terms of when you move in,” he said.

MJ Independent has learnt mayor elect Tolley is expected to be sworn in as mayor this coming Monday evening and then Council is set to move into a heavy agenda immediately following the swearing in.

“It is not something I am afraid or worried about. I am familiar with the process. I am comfortable in the chair and I also run an awful lot of meetings as an arbitrator so this is not something different for me.”

Asked about his on-going arbitration and mediation files which may be open he said he had a few open files he was working on at the present time which he said he has a “professional responsibility to finish off. But he won’t be taking on any new clients.”

Tolley was asked what he thought were the factors in his winning the byelection.

“I think hometown passion, leadership and action,” mayor elect Tolley said were the main reasons why he won the byelection.

“I’ve got a lot of experience and knowledge about our community and I mentioned during the news clips I watched on television and both CTV and Global mentioned some of the candidates were born and raised here. Well I was also born and raised here, served on Council and I have been a passionate advocate for the growth of our city,” he said.

Tolley’s calls to redevelop the now largely levelled 0 block of River Street (in a failed attempt to construct a new hotel next to Mosaic Place) were also a major draw for votes in his win.

“I think people see I am the right person for the job and doing that. And I think they are very interested to see that (I am saying) River Street to be revitalized and redeveloped. It is something that most of us in Moose Jaw have been proud of is that we were a tourist destination with a real nice area on River Street…coming forward and saying that is my number one priority it may have helped.”

Mayor elect Tolley was asked whether they would be any effect on his approach to taxation given his many years on the Board of Revision (the board oversees appeals on property taxes).

“A big part of the business community has come forward and spoken to me about the issue of re-assessment and the increase in their assessment and therefore an increase in their taxes. I have experience on the Board of Revision, I understand a bit more about assessment than your layperson would but I am going to leave it up to our assessment contractor SAMA (Saskatchewan Assessment Management Agency) and the Board of Revision to deal with those issues. But I know enough about it that I can listen intelligently to our businesses community and work with them to see if we can come up with some better ways to things in the future.”

Mayor elect Tolley was asked an additional question by MJ Independent if that would also entail helping out homeowners who might be struggling to pay their property taxes due to their economic situation.

“I am not just in support of the business community but I would suggest in this last reassessment those (business community) were the people most hardest hit. And those were the people most vocal currently. So no I am going to be the mayor representing all citizens of Moose Jaw and all homeowners and I will do my best to listen to the concerns of all of those people.”

The official election results will be released Friday morning.